"J.P. Morgan processes nearly 2 billion API requests every month, but only about 13% correspond to direct, customer-initiated actions. The rest are background data calls powering budgeting apps, lending tools, and account connections across the fintech ecosystem. For years, that access was largely free. But financial innovation seldom arrives in a straight line. Sometimes it swerves unexpectedly, forcing the industry to confront the tension between idealism and economics."
"In 2025, the era of free access took a hit. J.P. Morgan started negotiating paid data-access agreements with third-party data aggregators like Plaid, MX, and Yodlee, signaling a broader shift in the economics of open banking. For more than a decade, open banking ran on an implicit bargain: consumers could share their data freely, fintechs could innovate on top of it, and banks would absorb the infrastructure costs."
J.P. Morgan processes nearly 2 billion API requests every month, yet only about 13% correspond to direct, customer-initiated actions. The majority are background data calls that power budgeting apps, lending tools, and account connections across the fintech ecosystem. For years that access was largely free, enabling fintech innovation while banks absorbed infrastructure costs. In 2025 J.P. Morgan began negotiating paid data-access agreements with aggregators such as Plaid, MX, and Yodlee, marking a commercial shift. Rising data volumes and regulatory uncertainty are prompting a reevaluation of what open banking means and who ultimately pays for data access.
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